Deals

The State of Hesse on Tuesday printed the largest green bond from a European region, a €1.5bn 10 year that attracted over €6bn of orders and more accounts than on any previous Hessian issue, with the level of demand and greenium of at least 1bp seen as testament to its credentials and efforts.

CFF yesterday issued an inaugural issue of social obligations foncières supporting social housing and healthcare under the BPCE group’s sustainable development bond programme, a €500m long five year deal that bankers said “unblocked” the euro benchmark covered bond market.

Berlin Hyp issued the post-summer reopening euro benchmark covered bond for a fifth consecutive year on Wednesday, and Bodo Winkler, head of funding and investor relations at the issuer, told Sustainabonds that interest in social bonds now appears to be almost on a par with green.

Caffil sold the first bond from a new and enlarged group green, social and sustainability framework on Tuesday, a €750m five year green transaction that benefited from the scarcity of both its maturity and ESG nature, according to SFIL’s Gonzague Veillas.

Berlin Hyp became the first European bank to have issued in green, social and sustainability-linked formats with the launch of a €750m 10 year mortgage Pfandbrief on Tuesday supporting affordable housing, and the bank plans to be a similarly familiar face in the social market as it is in green bonds.

Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) on Thursday issued the first benchmark social mortgage Pfandbrief, a €500m 10 year that attracted €2.36bn of orders and which tackles the politically sensitive topic of housing in its hometown of Berlin.

The European Union issued its first green bond to unprecedented demand yesterday (Tuesday), raising €12bn in the largest green bond ever, a 15 year deal that attracted over €135bn of orders, representing an endorsement of the Commission’s ESG direction.

In a “compelling message” to its peers, Benin this month became the first African country to issue an SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) bond, a €500m transaction that was some three years in the making and which enabled the country to achieve a large greenium.